IT'S A FIX!! OR NOT?

 24th July 1995 

On this day in 1995, Southampton goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, the Zimbabwean, Wimbledon keeper, Hans Segers and Aston Villa striker, John Fashanu were all charged with conspiracy to fix matches. After two trials the trio were cleared two years later. After a campaign by The Sun newspaper, Southampton goalkeeper, Bruce Grobbelaar, Wimbledon keeper Hans Segers and Aston Villa striker, John Fashanu were all charged with conspiracy to fix matches. After two trials the trio were cleared two years later.

Bruce Grobbelaar: Filmed allegedly accepting money for match-fixingI bet they didn't see that coming.....

A journalist from The Sun newspaper has told a court that taped conversations by former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar prove its allegations of match-fixing. The newspaper's northern news editor, Peter Sherlock, told the High Court in London that Mr Grobbelaar's own admissions were "absolutely damning". And he said the response of the 41-year-old Zimbabwean, when confronted with the newspaper's allegations, had been "totally unsatisfactory". Mr Grobbelaar is suing the newspaper for libel over a series of articles published in 1994, which accused him of taking £40,000 to make sure Liverpool lost to Newcastle in 1993. It also claimed he blew his chance of making £125,000 by accidentally making a "sensational" save against Manchester United.

'Extremely evasive' Mr Sherlock supervised The Sun's investigation, which began after a former friend of Mr Grobbelaar's, Chris Vincent, helped the newspaper secretly videotape him talking about fixing matches to benefit a Far Eastern betting syndicate. On Tuesday Mr Sherlock told the court that Mr Grobbelaar's reaction to the claims had been "extremely evasive". "It reinforced my belief, which I held throughout the story, that Bruce Grobbelaar had something to hide - here was a man who had been caught out," he said. "He was chopping and changing his story all the time." Mr Sherlock, who had assigned two reporters to the story, said he had told them to proceed with "extreme caution". "It was a story that had to be checked out, starting with a zero point where we would publish nothing," he said.

'Anxious to be fair' The corroboration of Mr Vincent's story came through the videotapes, said Mr Sherlock, and concluded, six days before publication, with Mr Grobbelaar accepting a £2,000 payment from Mr Vincent. Mr Grobbelaar has said he made the comments on the tapes only to gather evidence of corruption against Mr Vincent. But Mr Sherlock said that if Mr Grobbelaar had told his reporters, when confronted, that he would pass the money on to the FA and expose Mr Vincent as corrupt, the story would not have been run "under any circumstances". "We were anxious to be extremely fair to Mr Grobbelaar...but he had no logical or legal explanation for his activities," he said.

Punitive damages The stories led to a court case in November 1997, in which Mr Grobbelaar and three co-defendants - former Wimbledon players Hans Segers and John Fashanu and Malaysian businessman Heng Suan Lim - were acquitted of match-fixing at Winchester Crown Court. Mr Grobbelaar has maintained throughout that he only gave advice on the possible outcome of games and did not fix matches. His case against The Sun includes a claim for punitive exemplary damages because he alleges that the newspaper published the story knowing it was false, or not caring if it was or not.The newspaper denies libel, claiming justification and qualified privilege. The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.

22nd JULY-busy date

22nd July 1998: European football arrived in Birkenhead! Security fears saw Shelbourne move their home UEFA Cup Preliminary Round tie.1st Leg, against Rangers from Dublin to Tranmere Rovers FC, Prenton Park ground. A 6,047 crowd watched in amazement as the Irish side took a 3-0 half time lead against a Rangers side who  were playing for the first time under a foreign manager, Dick Advocaat. His first half time talk did the trick though....Rangers won the match 5-3!!! 

For Shelborne Scorers: Porrini after 7 mins og, Rutherford 42 mins, Morley 58 mins:

For Rangers: Albertz 59 mins Pen, and another Pen, 83 mins. Amato 72 mins and 81 mins. Von Bronckhurst 74 mins. Some comeback!

Same date 2002.......After plenty of speculation Manchester United signed Rio Ferdinand from Leeds for a British record transfer fee of £29,100,000. In December 2023, a 33-year-old man from Staffs was sent to prison for six months, having been found guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand at Molineux in May 2021. Ferdinand was working there as a TV pundit for a match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United.

and on 22nd July 2006
Arsenal played their first match at the Emirates, the Gunners defeating Ajax 2-1 in the testimonial match for Dennis Bergkamp....Yes it's him.

EXETER AND ENFIELD

Exeter City is a professional English Football League club sited in Devon, England. The club competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the Football League, following relegation in the 2025-26 season. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to speculation and debate. The club is owned by its supporters through the club's Supporters' Trust.

Exeter City was founded in 1901 and began playing their games at St Jame's Park, where they remain to this day. They joined Division One of the Southern League in 1904. After a club tour to South America in 1914 (see below) to generate awareness of football in the continent, the club became the first side to play a national Brazilian team. As a result, City and the Brazilian side Fluminese are now also partner clubs. Exeter were invited to help create the Football League Third Division in 1920. They were assigned to the Third Division South the next year and won the Third Division South Cup in 1934. They remained in the division until becoming founder members of the Fourth Division in 1958.

On 21st July 1914, the Football Association was asked by its Argentine counterparts to send out an English team to help improve the standard of Argentinian football. So on the boat to Argentina was sent a non-league side, Exeter City, who were then members of the Southern League. They played eight matches in Argentina, losing just once. They then agreed to play three matches in Brazil on the way back. In the first of those matches they beat a team of English expats 3-0. The second match was against one of the two major regional teams in Brazil. Brazil was - is - a huge country and their football was based in two separate regional centres - Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. That second match was against the Rio select side and Exeter won 5-3. The third match - played on July 21st 1914 - was against a combined Rio and Sao Paulo side and was considered to be the first match played by the Brazilian national team. And in their first match Brazil beat Exeter City 2-0 and the fans certainly came out to witness the occasion. OK, not 200,000 at the Maracana but the it was thought that Fluminense's 6,000 capacity Estadio das Laranjeiras ground probably had 10,000 present in it to witness the match. So when you think of Brazil winning the World Cup give a thought to the part Exeter City played played in starting it all off!

AND

21st July 1964
Tottenham Hotspur forward John White was killed by lightning when sheltering under a tree during a thunderstorm at the Crews Hill golf course in Enfield. 'The Ghost' had been an ever-present in Spurs double-winning side of 1960/61 and had played 22 times for Scotland. He was a wonderful footballer, an inside-forward and one of the reasons why I was drawn to Spurs as a ten year old. The other reason was that Spurs won The Double in 1960-61 Season!! Simple!

KEVIN KEEGAN RIP

Today it has been announced that Kevin Keegan has died at the age of 75. 

It was announced in January that the former England player and manager had been diagnosed with stage four cancer, with his family revealing he was set to begin treatment.

Today, "It is with immense sadness that we announce that Kevin Keegan has passed away at the age of 75," a statement from Keegan's family read. "The former England player and manager had been battling cancer and was surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments. "Kevin, a double Ballon D'or winner, was a much loved husband, father and grandfather. The family would like to thank Kevin's incredible medical team for all their support. This is a hugely difficult time and they are requesting space and privacy."

Image:Keegan was considered one of the best players of his generation and enjoyed a stellar playing career, making almost 750 club appearances, lifting the First Division trophy three times with Liverpool and winning the Ballon d'Or back-to-back in 1978 and 1979 while playing for Hamburg in the Bundesliga.

Image:Liverpool's Ian Callaghan, Kevin Keegan and Ray Clemence parade the FA Cup

Image:Above, Liverpool striker Kevin Keegan during a match with QPR. Seven years after his retirement, he took his first coaching role as manager of a struggling Newcastle team in February 1992. The Magpies were in danger of being relegated to Division Two but Keegan kept them up and then led them to the Premier League in his first full season in charge. Then, in 1996, he took Newcastle to within touching distance of their first top-tier title since 1927.

Kevin Keegan's major honours as a player. 

• Liverpool: First Division x3, FA Cup, European Cup, UEFA Cup x2
• Hamburg: Bundesliga
• Ballon d'Or. 

Newcastle were Premier League title favourites for most of that 1995/96 season, at one stage being 12 points clear of Manchester United. But a dramatic collapse from Keegan's side coupled with a Sir Alex Ferguson-inspired Man Utd winning 13 of their last 15, eventually saw Newcastle finish second by four points.

Late defeats at the hands of Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the run-in saw United eventually haul them in. As the pressure mounted on a beleaguered Keegan, who was desperate to deliver the title to a passionate Newcastle fanbase, his infamous "I'd love it.." post-match interview after victory at Leeds, aimed at Sir Alex, among others, unfortunately characterised his time at St James' Park.

Kevin Keegan's major honours as a manager

• Newcastle United: Football League First Division
• Fulham: Football League Second Division
• Man City: Football League First Division

He would go on to manage England, for whom he had scored 21 goals in 63 games as a player, between February 1999 and October 2000 - resigning minutes after a 1-0 defeat to Germany in the last game played at the old Wembley Stadium.

Image:Kevin Keegan celebrates scoring against Scotland at Wembley in 1979

His time as national boss also saw England fail to get out of the group stage at Euro 2000, despite a 1-0 win over Germany, as defeats by Portugal and Romania piled on the pressure even before that defeat at the hands of Dietmar Hamann's free-kick four months later in the first qualifier for the 2002 World Cup. 

A spell at Manchester City followed, which included promotion to the Premier League in 2002 as Division One champions, but Keegan left the club in March 2005, initially announcing his retirement from football. Keegan made an emotional return to Newcastle in 2008, but only lasted eight months following tensions with the board and owner Mike Ashley.

GLOBAL FOOTBALL? WHY NOT CELEBRATE BRAZIL?

In 1894, Charles Miller arrived from England with two footballs, some kit and a set of Hampshire FA  "rules". Miller was born in Sao Paulo to an English father, Scot John Miller, a railway engineer, and a Brazilian mother; very much part of the coffee and commerce elite of Sao Paulo. He was sent to England for his education, to a school called Bannister Court on Hampshire. He played football for the school team and the Corinthians, as well as the recently formed local professionals, St Mary's, later Southampton FC.

The São Paulo Athletic Club was formed in 1894 by Charles Miller and the Associacao Atletica MacKenzie College, from 1898, was the first team dedicated to Brazilians. The first club destined only for football was the São Paulo Sport Club Internacional, founded in 1899 and already extinct. Soon after, in the same year, the Sport Club Germânia was founded by the German Hans Nobiling, today under the name Esporte Clube Pinheiros.

Due to the extinction of Germânia's football department, the Sporte Club Riogrande, located in the city of Rio Grande do Sul, is considered the first football club founded in Brazil that is still active. In 1976, in honor of the club, July 19th was named Brazil's National Football Day (Dia Nacional do Futebol).

After Sport Club Rio Grande, the oldest active club is Associacao Atletica Ponte Preta (AAPP) of Campinas, São Paulo, founded on August 11, 1900. The Sport Club Rio Grande plays in the Campeonato Gaucho, the regional Second Division, at the Arthur Lawson Stadium that hold 5,000. Here is the badge...almost a beach ball?

Returning to Brazil, Miller played for the Sao Paulo Cricket Club and persuaded his friends to play a "winter" sport, football. The first matches in 1895, were played on land scrub land, east of the city where mules grazed! The beasts of burden were used to pull city trams. The mules were chased away and replaced by lads called Sao Paulo Railways, playing The Gas Team from a local gas company.

In 1897, Hans Nobiling, a German immigrant, landed in Sao Paulo with German rules and some status of playing in Hamburg. A stranger, he couldn't get a game with Sao Paulo AC, so he gathered "excluded" non-Anglo immigrants and formed AC Internacional. More clubs formed included an exclusively Teutonic SC Germania, a team formed by American students from the local Mackenzie College and CA Paulistino a sports' club made of the city Brazilian elite.

By 1901 the club played friendlies, for example in May against some English sailors and by 1902 an extensive league programm (1st League), the Liga Paulista and city championship was staged. Brazil's National Football Day is held on July 19th to celebrate the club's founding.

COME ON THE LADIES

The Men habe had a lot of publicity, so for a change here is a note about Ladies Football and particularly Dick, Kerr Ladies, see below!! This was a team formed in a Preston munitions' factory (Dick, Kerr and Co) during the First World War. Letting women play soccer raised morale, especially when they played against the men!

Women's football has been part of my blog series and several references have been highlighted in the past; here they are.
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/women-are-useless-at-playing-it.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/women-to-fore-at-last.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/locked-out-or-locked-in-with-and.html

The 2017 European Women's Championship have begun, with England playing Scotland tomorrow.
The Dick, Kerr Ladies football team and their free scoring teenage centre forward, Lily Parr, basked briefly in the type of publicity that our modern women enjoy today.
Have a look at Lily's "history".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Parr

The team existed between 1917 to 1965 playing 828 games, winning 758. Their first match was against the Arundel Coulthard Factory at Deepdale on Christmas Day 1917. 10,000 saw the Kerr Ladies win 4-0.

All money raised went to military charities. The Daily Post stated that the ladies suffered less from stage fright than their opponents (men) and had a better understanding of the game.

These pioneers were so popular that in 1920 they played St Helens Ladies in front of 53,000 at Goodison Park.

So POPULAR were they that the FA banned women's football the following year, stopping them from playing on the FA's affiliated pitches on the principle that football was "unsuitable for females".
Money and politics suddenly took over and one doctor announced that "the kicking is too jerky a movement for women. The hard knocks on the football field are bad for future mothers."

There was a "first international" against France in 1920 at Deepdale (2-0), then games at Stockport (5-2), Manchester (1-1) and Stamford Bridge (1-2). There was a return tour to France

Clare Boulding gets her gander up over the the "way of putting women back in their places". In the kitchen perhaps?

Where would our ladies have been today if the ban had not slowed down progress. The ban lasted until 1971 and the FA "recognised" women's football eventually in 1993! LOOK AT THEM NOW!!

Gail Newsham, an ex-footballer, is the author of Dick, Kerr's official history, "In a League of their Own".

DO I NOT LIKE THAT!

17th July 1994 The Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, USA, saw the first World Cup Final to be decided on a penalty shoot-out. After extra time had ended with the score at 0-0 Brazil beat Italy 3-2 on pens to win the title for the fourth time.

Under the leadership of new manager Graham Taylor (remember him?), England failed to qualify for the tournament!! In a group with six teams, England lost to Norway and The Netherlamds, finishing third above Poland, Turkey and San Marino.

England went into their final game with San Marino knowing they would need a seven-goal victory and for Poland to beat the Netherlands in the other match in order to qualify. In the game against San Marino, Davide Gualtiere scored against England after nine seconds, taking the lead for the outsiders. England went on to win 7–1, which was too small a goal margin. Additionally, despite the half-time score between the Poles and the Dutch being 1–1, the Dutch went on to win 3–1, meaning that however many goals England scored, they could still not qualify. Taylor's tenure in charge ended and he was replaced by Terry Venables, who left after England lost the semi-final of Euro 1996, hosted in England.

17th July 1991 The day that the Premier League took a giant step to reality. The 22 clubs in the old First Division – led by the ‘big 5’ of Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – signed the Founder Members Agreement in which they agreed to set up a new "League". That league would be separate from the existing Football League although there would be promotion and relegation between the Premier League and Football League with Premier League sides also remaining in the FA Cup and League Cup. The driving force behind the change was inevitably money. The top clubs wanted commercial independence from the Football League – and the FA – so they could negotiate their own TV deals and sponsorship agreements. They hoped the change would help the top clubs compete with the top teams in Europe…..and bank more money! The Premier League kicked off in the 1992/93 season.